Key holding or allegation
On 31 Jul 2026 the court predominantly denied motions to dismiss, sustaining §1201(a)(1)(A) claims against both defendants, a §1201(a)(2) claim against SerpApi and civil conspiracy, while dismissing §1201(b) and specified state-law claims.
Why it matters
Direct AI-search/RAG authority applying DMCA anti-circumvention law to the acquisition layer rather than deciding copyright infringement of model training itself.
Facts
Reddit alleges SerpApi and Perplexity circumvented technical access controls to obtain Reddit-related search snippets/content for Perplexity services.
Issues before the court
Whether alleged circumvention states claims under §1201(a)(1)(A) and §1201(a)(2), and whether related state-law claims survive.
What the court did not decide
Actual circumvention liability, damages, copyright infringement, fair use and ultimate responsibility for downstream AI outputs remain unresolved.
Procedural timeline
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Motion-to-dismiss opinion and order: Court predominantly denied dismissal, sustaining §1201(a)(1)(A) claims against SerpApi and Perplexity, a §1201(a)(2) claim against SerpApi and civil conspiracy, while dismissing §1201(b) and specified state-law claims.